The current invention relates to a clamping apparatus to be used with assembly jigs used in positioning limited production workpieces for machining and assembling.
In many areas of industry it is necessary to deal with workpieces that need to be held in place for machining processes or as part of the assembly process. These pieces are often irregular and thus will not be suitable for positioning in a standardized jig. If large numbers of the irregular pieces are needed, it is possible to build a special jig for the specific pieces economically. However, the manufacturer is often faced with pieces that are for limited production making it inefficient to make a special jig for each type of piece. In the past there has been no efficient way to avoid this inefficiency. Assembly jigs were therefore usually individualized for the workpiece by welding new and different members together so to allow attachment of the piece to be worked on. The purpose of the current invention is to a clamping system which avoids the inefficiency of having to in essence construct a new jig each time it is used for a different piece.
The current invention increases the efficiency by using a jig frame including a series of T-slotted tracks. Standardized members are then attached to the T-slotted tracks by T-bolts which allow easy positioning of the standardized members in multiple orientations. These attachments can be additional track members, support surfaces or clamps. The invention features a new clamp design which can be attached to the T-slotted tracks at a number of different orientations. The attachment is by a locator unit into which the actual clamping member is inserted by means of a pin into a central hole in an essentially circular protrusion of the locator. The clamping surface is aligned parallel to the pin to allow clamping of the workpiece in essentially 360 degrees. By using standardized members that can undertake a wide range of orientations, specialized units are not necessary to hold each workpiece. The jig can be changed between workpieces by merely re-orienting the various members of the assembly through loosening of T-bolts and movement of the standardized pieces.
Not only does this have the advantage of cutting down on the time used for setting up each new workpiece but also has the advantage of removing the need to keep on hand additional brackets and welding equipment. Another advantage of the invention is that the clamping device provides an over-center clamping force for a wide range of different angular relationships between the jig and the workpiece to be held.